A fishing tournament organization held it's annual Mako Mania shark tournament this past Saturday and Sunday out of Point Pleasant New Jersey. Only Mako sharks were eligible. Fishing began at 5:30 AM and weigh in was 7:00 PM. First prize $80,000. *( With Calcutta, side bets, prizes were estimated to go to $440,000.

Fishing was offshore about 50-60 miles in an area called the Canyons. Unfortunately our teams boat didn't catch a Mako but they did hook a Thrasher at 3:00 PM on Sunday. 460 pounds. The fight lasted 4 1/2 hours. The captain said at around 7:30 PM that if it wasn't' landed in the next hour they had to cut it off. The boat didn't get back to the docks until 10:00 PM. And the shark then had to be butchered ! Since everything was closed and everyone went home there wasn't a crane to offload the shark. So it was butchered on board.

The rules are that all boats have to be back and checked by the judges at 7:00 PM. The Thrasher was still being fought at 7:00 PM. It was the biggest shark caught but ineligible. Thrashers were accepted 4 years ago but delisted currently. And if it had been a Mako it wouldn't have made the weigh in in time. Se la vie !